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| (Photo/China Daily) |
Zhang Derong, who was born and raised in Chenshan village, just 100 meters from the quarry, recalls riding cows home after school, and rocks falling on his old house because of the quarrying.
"Soldiers and the mining company always helped repair the house, but the mining never stopped despite the dangers," he says. "It was an important source of income for the village."
Zhu, the designer, says incorporating the history of the mine was central to his plans for reconstruction.
"The site was formed as a result of industrialization. This is something that had a big impact on me when I first saw the quarry lake, and I wanted visitors to remember this," he says.
Zhu used iron and steel as the principal materials to create the project. "I wanted the place to have an industrial smell rather than mask it with something fragrant."
It was the first time Zhu, who specializes in urban garden design, landscaped a quarry.
"I didn't like the idea of creating a quarry hotel on the site because that would mean a higher density of visitors," Zhu says.
"Reconstructing a quarry was a new and interesting idea to me. It was originally suggested that we should fill in the quarry, which I thought was hilarious. I later learned that this is a common way of dealing with abandoned quarries, but it is too crude and not necessarily safe.
"I think it is wiser for people to think ahead when they exploit nature and think about future use."
He insisted on keeping the quarry lake, making it the centerpiece of the botanical garden.
In addition to creating a waterfall, with water pumped from the lake, Zhu and his design team conceived the idea of constructing a bridge that would allow visitors to walk from the top of the quarry down to the lakeside 30 meters below.
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